One Stoked Rookie
Tahj Jakins is riding a killer wave, but it’s not the kind of wave Jakins imagined himself on five years ago.
“I was debating between surfing competitively or hanging out with my buddies,” said Jakins, 21, who grew up minutes from the Huntington Beach Pier. “But then I decided, how would I get through school by surfing?”
So Jakins began to seriously reevaluate his options. He had always been a decent soccer player but never a standout. During his junior year at Marina High, Jakins figured he’d start finding out how good he could be if he put his surfboard away for a while.
“I pushed myself,” Jakins said. “I went out and ran all the time and I began to dedicate myself to soccer.”
That dedication paid off in February, when Jakins, a 6-foot-2 first-team All-American defender from UCLA, was the No. 1 overall pick in the Major League Soccer draft, selected by the Colorado Rapids.
“By far, it was an honor to be the first player picked,” Jakins said. “It was a shock to a certain extent. You look back to all those times you trained and you realize it was worth it.”
Dan Judkins, Jakins’ teammate at Marina and on the North Huntington Beach soccer club, said he remembers when Jakins’ career began to take off.
“His junior year in high school, he started getting real dedicated,” said Judkins, who will soon begin his senior season at Southern Methodist. “Tahj didn’t have the natural skills some top players have, but he made up for it with a lot of hard work. I’m sure the MLS wants guys who work hard and are dependable. That’s what they got in Tahj.”
Glen Myernick, Colorado’s head coach, said he knew what he was getting in Jakins after scouting him several times at UCLA and coaching him at a college all-star game.
“I had pretty much made up my mind that I wanted Tahj and the all-star game pretty much confirmed it,” Myernick said. “The first pick in the draft doesn’t come along very often, or at least you hope it doesn’t, so you want to be real careful with it.
“He’s a very disciplined kind of player, goal-oriented, and he had developed a good work ethic during his college years. I knew he was extremely focused.”
But Jakins wasn’t always so focused. Like many Southern California beach bums, he went through a lazy period.
“More or less, I was into hanging out with my friends,” he said. “My big dilemma was always, ‘Should I go to the beach or work out?’ ”
Now that he reflects on those days, Jakins realizes he made the right decision.
“I’ve had a lot of buddies who are surfing competitively, but they haven’t had the kind of success they’d like to,” he said.
Surely, not the kind of success Jakins has had.
“Knowing your best friend from high school, a guy you’ve known all your life, was the No. 1 pick in the MLS draft is pretty amazing,” Judkins said. “It’s kind of a pride thing. It makes me feel pretty good.”
Jakins still feels pretty good about being picked No. 1, but says the thrill is starting to wear off and the reality of sitting on the bench is setting in. Jakins has started only six of 20 games and has played in only 11 games for the 9-11 Rapids, who host the Galaxy on Sunday.
“I expected a little more, actually,” he said. “But all the guys ahead of me, like Marcelo Balboa, Steve Trittschuh and Matt Kmosko, have years on me. But you want to get in there and do a good job and show what you can do.”
When he has played, Myernick said Jakins has performed well for a rookie.
“Tahj has gotten some significant playing time for a rookie in this league,” Myernick said. “The college game is still pretty far behind. They play a lot less games and there are so many NCAA rules that restrict development at that level. It’s rare for a college kid to come in here and start.
“That’s one of the reasons I picked Tahj. There were some players who had more ability, but they didn’t have the mental makeup to deal with not playing all the time.”
Judkins said he has seen his friend play on ESPN a few times.
“He’s not real flashy, but he plays his role well,” Judkins said.
Jakins’ role is usually to mark the opposing team’s best player. Sometimes that player is Carlos Valderrama of Tampa Bay and sometimes it’s Eduardo Hurtado of the Galaxy. Jakins said he has fared well in both matchups.
“My instinct to defend has always been there,” he said. “I’ve always been able to communicate pretty well and organize the people around me.
“I wasn’t gifted to beat people off the dribble on offense, but I was gifted to defend. I’ve got size, good timing and a good vertical jump. I’ve been able to keep adding to each quality.”
But he’s still looking for his first MLS goal.
“If I can get a few more consecutive starts, it’ll come,” he said.
While he waits for his first goal and more playing time, Jakins will spend his time getting adjusted to the Colorado lifestyle.
“It’s great for the outdoors thing, fishing, hunting, hiking,” he said from his apartment in Westminster, a suburb of Denver. “Outside of not being able to surf, I’m doing all right. I’m here doing what I love to do, so I have to take the good with the bad.”
